Cigarette and ash tray for saucers



May 13, 1952 Q STQDGELL 2,596,921

CIGARETTE AND ASH TRAY FOR SAUCERS Filed April 19, 1948 IN V EN TOR. 0.42: H, 5T006L 1 Patented May 13, 1952 fif' UNITED STATES arent -OFFlCE CIGARETTEAND AsH TRAYFOR SAUCE/RS Clare A. Stodgell, seatt w sn V Application April 19, 1948, Serial N .j2'1,821'

This invention relates to what are generally known as cigarette and ash trays, and it has reference more particularly to cigarette and ash trays adapted for use'in connection with a cup and saucer combination.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a. cigarette and ash tray that may easily and readilybe applied to the edge of a saucer or plate for support therefrom, thus to provide that the user of the saucer, either while holding a cup and saucer in the hands as while drinking tea, or while the cup and saucer are resting on a-table will have a readily accessible place for ie1: ositin gv ashes from a burning cigarette and also a convenient device in which the cigarette may be placed.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel form of tray, preferably from a single piece of sheet metal, and comprising at one edge a pair of coacting spring clamp members that may be applied to the edge of a saucer for support of the tray, and at its opposite edge, a leg to engage against a surface to steady the device when a cigarette is pressed thereinto.

Still further objects of the invention reside in the various details of construction of the device, and in its combination of parts, as will hereinafter be fully described.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the present cigarette and ash tray, as applied to a saucer.

Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the tray.

Fig. 3 is a section of the same on line 33 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the tray as seen from that end which is equipped with the holding means.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the outer end of the device, showing the supporting leg and handle member.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

It is preferred that the present device be made from a single fiat piece of a suitable sheet metal such as aluminum, copper, steel or brass, but it is to be understood that it might be fabricated from one or more pieces of material if this be i found more desirable.

In the drawings, the tray in Fig. 1 is shown as applied to the edge of a saucer II on which a cup I2 is supported. It is the intent that the tray be so affixed to the saucer that it will remain 2 Claims. (01. lei-241%,"

properly in' place for its intended use While the cup and saucer are being held in the hand as sometimes is the case in the drinking of tea, and also while the saucer is resting'on a'surface.

In its present preferred form of construction the tray comprises a flat, horizontal body portion l5 that is substantially rectangular in form, and provided centrally with a depression 16 forming an ash receptacle. At'one edge of the body, the plate is downwardly bent, as at IT in Fig. fl, andthen turned angularly upward, as at i3, thus by the bending'opera'tion'providing shoul ders ill-l9 adjacent opposite edges of the plate, and an extending flange 2B of substantial length, rounded'at its outer edge as best shownsin Fig.2.

Pressed upwardly from the middleportion of the flange 20, and extending from the edge of body I5 somewhat upwardly offset from the flange as shown best in Fig. 3, is a tongue 2|. The flange and tongue are so arranged that they may be applied, respectively, to the under and top surfaces of the saucer rim, as has been shown in Figs. 1 and 3, thus to grip the rim and yieldingly attach the tray to the saucer. The parts are spring-like and firmly grip the saucer flange between them, yet prevent the tray from being easily pulled loose.

At that edge of the body plate 15 which is opposite that shouldered edge which engages the saucer rim, and centrally thereof, is a downturned leg portion 25 adapted to engage at its lower end with the table surface on which the saucer is rested, to operate as a support for the tray, particularly when down pressure is applied to the tray as in snuiiing out a cigarette. This leg also serves as a handle for the removal or application of the tray to the saucer edge.

Formed at the outer corners of the body l5, are horizontally directed wings 2828, longitudinally channeled as at 29 to serve as holding means for a cigarette as indicated at 30 in Fig. 1.

To use the device it is merely applied to the rim of a saucer as in Fig. 1. The flange 20 and tongue 2| grip the saucer rim and hold the tray in place. When the saucer is rested on a surface, as in Fig. 3, the leg 25 also operates to support the tray. To disengage the tray, it may be grasped by leg 25 and pulled free.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A cigarette tray formed of a resilient sheet of material and having a horizontally disposed body formed adjacent one end portion with a depressed concavo-convexed portion constituting 3 a cup, wings extending horizontally from the said end of said body and having longitudinally extending grooves defining cigarette receivin channels having inner ends communicating with said cup, a tongue between said wings extending downwardly from a marginal portion of the body and constituting a leg of greater length than the depth of said cup, the other end portion of said plate being ofiset downwardly and constituting a mounting flange connected with the body by a transversely extending vertical wall, and a tongue struck from the flange and the wall and projecting outwardly from the body intermediate the width of the flange and spaced upwardly from the flange and together, therewith providing jaws for firmly gripping upper and lower surfaces of a saucer and detachably mounting the ash tray thereon, said wall constituting a stop for engagement with the edge of said saucer.

2. A cigarette tray formed of a sheet of material and comprising a substantiallycentral rectangularbodyportion, a substantially U-shaped lower jaw extending from one end of said body portion longitudinally thereof at a downward incline and having its arms connected with side portions of the said end of said body portion by vertical walls shaped and adapted to engage the edge of a saucer, a tongue extending from the said end of said body between the arms of the lower jaw and being of less width than the space between the said arms and constituting an upper jaw disposed at a downward incline in upwardly spaced overlying relation to the space between the arms of the lower jaw, said body portion having a depressed concave-convex portion constituting a cup spaced from the said end of the body and side edges thereof and for a portion of its circumference being flush with the other end of the body, channeled wings extendin diagonally from the second end of the body portion and spaced from each other transversely thereof and constituting cigarette-receiving members having inner ends communicating with said cup, and a leg extending downwardly from the second end of the body portion between inner ends of said wings and of a length greater than the depth of'the cup whereby the cup is adapted to be held in upwardly spaced relation to a surface upon which the lower end of the leg rests.

CLARE A. STODGELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

V UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 292,651 l-ientschke Jan. 29, 1884 1,074,173 Hines Sept. 30, 1913 1,212,185 Cobb Jan. 16, 1917 2,006,905 Sapper et a1 July 2, 1935 2,354,968 Pickering Aug. 1, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 21,049 Great Britain 301' 1907 361,975 Great Britain Nov. 30,1931 

